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Month: March 2016

When Their Eyes Were Opened

Luke 24: 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 and their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

Luke 18:43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

When Their Eyes Were Opened

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word. What we would like to speak on here for a few moments is to tie these two scriptures perfectly together. This is a powerful scripture. I would like to take for a text, “when their eyes were opened”. When their eyes were opened they knew him and in Luke 18, when his eyes were opened he followed. When their eyes were opened. Before their eyes were opened they did not know Jesus or follow Him even though He was right there with them. They should have known him for they spent the last three years with him day and night. If you notice, not only were they not following him, but he was following them. We never went looking for the Lord God, he came looking for us. You did not find God, He came looking for you and when He opened your eyes, then you saw him, and then you started following Him. Are our eyes opened this morning? Jesus did it!

Israel was called to be the people of God. They were, and still are, a holy nation, a chosen people, and a blessed people. God was with them and them alone. They had prophets, they had history with God, they had signs and wonders, they had the scriptures, they had the Law of God, they had God’s promise to Abraham, they had the message of the hour brought by the Elijah of their day, John the Baptist. They had everything you could ask for except that they did not have open eyes.

How could this be? This is not my words this is Bible.

Matthew 13: 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, by hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see and not perceive.

Did you get that? They both saw and heard everything, and yet they saw and heard nothing. Is that not exactly the same today? I met a fellow in Victoria who had just come from church one Sunday. He said it was great at church that morning so I asked him what the preacher spoke on and he could not remember. Does that sound fantastic? Not more than a half hour after the service and he could not remember a singe aspect of what was spoken. It is Bible too. It is the parable of the sower; some seed fell beside the road and the birds got it immediately. His heart was not prepared that day to receive the word, so his eyes were closed, and no sooner did he hear the word but the devil came and took it from him. He heard it all and still heard nothing. And it is very, very common today.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever. Amen? So is the devil. God don’t change and neither does the devil. The prophet told us if we want to know what Jesus is today all we have to do is find out what he was in the Bible times of yesterday and we will know exactly what Jesus is today. He was our healer yesterday and so he is our healer today. He was the life-giver yesterday and he is our life-giver today. He was the deliverer yesterday and he is still the same deliverer today. He is our prophet, priest and King. He is the resurrection and the life, the same yesterday, today and forever.

And if we want to know what the devil is today all we have to do is find out what he was in the Bible times of yesterday. And if we want to know what people are like today, and what the church is like today, all we have to do is find out what they were like in the Bible times of yesterday. Is that Bible?

Look what it says about the people.

Matthew 23: 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, 30and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Jesus is telling us right here that the people of His day were exactly like the people of previous days and that their own testimony condemned them as such. They were a generation of vipers. Cain’s seed, the serpent’s seed is still the serpent’s seed. They are today just as their daddy was 6,000 years ago in Eden! They haven’t changed. There is no evolution, only devilution! Read or listen to William Branham’s sermon “Satan’s Eden”. That is your homework for this week. You will see that it clearly. Look at the warning to our time. How did Jesus say this time would be? What did He tell us to watch for?

As it was in the days of Noah and as it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be at the end. As it was 3,000 years ago and as it was 4,000 years ago so shall it be today. So if we find out what things were like in the days of Noah and how was it in the days of Lot, then we should be able to identify the end times. We should know these things.

Matthew 24: 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark 39 and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

They were eating and drinking and building and marrying wives, multiple remarriages, oblivious to the situation, even though they had a prophet of God preaching from the roof tops for 120 years that the end was coming. Sound familiar? Every person on earth heard the message of Noah. There was not a soul that did not know about this crazy old man with his land-locked boat collecting hundreds of baby animals in pairs and stowing them away on this monstrosity of a barge during what was probably one of the worst heat waves in memory.

The Message of the Hour was everywhere. They all knew it, and they all discarded it because their science, and their philosophy, their logic and their reasoning told them that it was impossible for it to rain, and certainly impossible for the whole earth to be flooded.

Their religion, the religion of Cain, told them that God was a good God and surely they wouldn’t die. After all Cain was allowed to continue on. The very same lie he told Eve and it was still at work in Noah’s day, and it is still at work today. It is still being preached today. Live any way you want, believe whatever you want, as long as you worship God because God is a good God and would never judge one of His worshippers. The serpent, Cain, and the people of Noah’s day all had the same relationship with God, which was no relationship at all, and thus the same religion. They heard and they saw everything, and they heard and saw absolutely nothing! And every one of them is dead, eternally separated from God.

On the very first Easter, Jesus went down into hell and preached to the lost, the souls who rejected Noah. He went there to vindicate Noah, and to condemn them. His very presence did that.

The almighty Lord God hasn’t changed, the devil hasn’t changed, and humanity has not changed. People are the same, only worse. The same quality with just more quantity. In Jesus’ day He pronounced upon the church the prophesy of Isaiah and today the very same prophesy is pronounced upon the people by that same Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3: 14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

That is the Church today. That is not the world, that is the Church! Jesus was speaking to the Church in His day, and here He speaks about the Church of our day, for he titles it “unto the angel of the CHURCH of Laodicea”. We are at the end of the end. This is the seventh and last Church Age and we are at the end of it. Elijah has come and gone long ago. Israel has been in the holy land for nearly 70 years now. The message of the hour is all over the planet, even in countries like Iran and North Korea. There are websites everywhere about the message, tracts and books are printed by the tens of thousands in virtually every single language and there have been preachers and missionaries to no end all over the planet. We have had the most published message of all time. You can even see videos of the prophet on You-tube and Facebook! Just as in Jesus’ day, the Church is blind! It sees and sees not, it hears and hears not. This generation has seen and heard everything and yet has seen and heard absolutely nothing.

How can people be so blind? What happened to them to blind them? Spiritual things are not difficult things, they are not complex things, they are simple things yet people have become blind to them. Why?

2 Corinthians 4: 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The gospel is hid to those that the god of this world, the devil, has blinded. The serpent’s seed will never ever see it. The simplest spiritual things are hidden from them forever. And not just the meaty things but even the milk. Even things which are written in black and white become invisible. Things like the godhead, footwashing with the Lord’s supper, Christmas trees and even water baptism. Look how clearly the Bible lays out water baptism for us.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Could it be written any plainer that that? There is nothing left to ponder, nothing to argue, nothing left to chance. Proper water baptism is expressed here in minute detail and yet they cannot see it. There is not one record of anyone in the Bible after John the Baptist, not in church records, nor in secular history, being baptized in any other way than immersion in the name of Jesus Christ prior to the Nicene Council of 325 AD.

Baptism in titles is catholic in origin and is absolutely contrary to the Word of God. Proper water baptism is so essential that Paul commanded all those baptized in any other way, including the baptism of John the Baptist, to be rebaptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Apollos and the Italian band, believers, baptized by John the Baptist, had to be rebaptized in order to receive the Holy Ghost. It is the same for each and every one of us today. Apollos had open eyes. HIs eyes were opened. He believed the word when he heard it and obeyed it, even if he did not completely understand it. He was not too proud. It is clearly written in black and white and yet people will not believe it, because they cannot see it. They cannot believe it. It is Bible and they cannot believe it because the god of this world, the devil, has blinded their eyes to it. And it is by our choice that he blinds us. We’ll see that in a bit.

And if they cannot see something as simple, as straight-forward, and as obvious as water baptism, how will they ever see more complex matters? If we cannot come to understanding of justification, where will we be on sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

And the people in Jesus day whose eyes were closed were not a bunch of drunks in a bar, they were the religious church goers. The drunks and prostitutes came to him, repented and received him. The rejecters were educated in the Word and the Law. They were theologians, pastors, preachers, evangelists etc. The scriptures were read to them, and even by them, every single Sabbath. They knew the Law and the Prophets forwards and backwards. It is the same today. It is the religious that are blind. We read of the Laodicean Church, not Laodician world, the Church. That is us, that is the church going christians! Blind and don’t even know it! What a miserable state to be in. Poor, wretched, miserable, and blind and don’t even know it.

How can people ever get help if they don’t even know they got a problem? The religious world of today is blind. The Bible says that Jesus is outside of the church, knocking at the door trying to get back in. Jesus’ generation murdered him, and this religious generation is crucifying Him afresh.

Hebrews 6: 4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Do Not Crucify the Lord Jesus Christ Afresh

If we hear it, and we see it, and we taste it, and it is shown to us in the Bible, and we willfully reject it, then we crucify Christ afresh and step out from the mercy of God. If we see and see not, and if we hear and hear not, if we see and hear it and reject it, rejecting the Revealed Word of God for the Hour, we become willfully blind and become guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn’t say we have to understand every word, it says we have to believe every word.

In the old testament they had a party every 50 years that they called the jubilee. At jubilee they would blow the trumpet and any slave who heard it would be set free forever. But if that slave liked his master he could request to be taken to the gates of the city and his master would pierce his ear with an awl, and that slave would become a slave forever no matter how many more times he heard the trumpet. Pierced ears? Now you know where it comes from; it is a sign of eternal slavery. Here is the type, everything in the old testament is a type or shadow of the new. Every scripture speaks about Jesus Christ.

Jesus was crucified and rose, and 50 days later at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell in the pillar of fire, divided itself up and rested upon the 120 and each was filled with the Holy Ghost. Jubilee was a type or shadow of Pentecost.

2 Thessalonians 2: 10 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.

Each and every soul was conceived in iniquity, born in sin, coming into the world speaking lies. We were all sold under slavery to sin, but Jesus Christ purchased us back with His own holy blood. But when we hear the trumpet, which is the message of the hour, and we reject that trumpet, then our earthly master, the devil, pierces our ears and we will never hear the word again. We become blind to it and no matter how many more times we hear the truth preached to us, we will never receive it. It is our choice, when our jubilee comes, when our Pentecost comes, we are given a choice to receive our freedom or reject it and become eternal slaves. That is sinning willfully, and that is our choice to make. That is our Kadesh Barnea.

The devil blinds the minds of people to spiritual things. When we hear the word and it does not fit our desires or our ideas and we reject it, the devil blinds us and deafens us with philosophy, with logic, dogma, and with religiousness. A religious spirit is the worst spirit to have. Look at Jesus’ day again. The Pharisees and the Scribes and the Sadducees all called Jesus the devil. He did mighty miracles in their midst even to the raising of the dead right in front of their eyes and they called Him the devil. They were schooled in the scriptures, in the letter of the law. They could quote to you every prophesy in the Bible concerning Jesus and here He was in their midst day and night fulfilling every single prophesy right before their eyes, exactly as it was written, and they could not see it!

Yet a little prostitute out in Samaria, one day by a well as she went to get some water, upon seeing one little miracle, said “sir I perceive you are a prophet”. One little miracle is all it took. Her eyes were opened! She saw with her eyes, heard with her ears and believed in her heart and she was changed. She accepted what she saw and heard. The religious types saw many times more miracles, rejected all of it, and didn’t see a single thing.

What are we saying about the word today? How are we receiving it? Do we see it? Are our eyes opened?

Isaiah 60: 1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Darkness upon the earth and gross darkness the people. Is that not today? The world is oblivious to the truth that is all around them. The people, the religious people, are completely oblivious to the truth around them. They are too busy in politics and business trying to get rich, popular and powerful. They are so busy building bigger churches and filling seats to get more and more money that they don’t have any time or concern for spiritual things. They spend so much time raising money and building their popularity and developing television and internet programs that they have no time left for the Lord God.

But in this scripture of condemnation of the world lies a beautiful, wonderful promise too. “The Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee”. Our eyes, our spiritual eyes, just have to be open to see it. God’s glory is shining right now. The pillar of fire is in the room with you, he promised to be where two or three are gathered in his name so he is in this room, and in your room right now, shining brighter that the sun.

When Elijah told Elisha “if you see me when I go you shall have what you ask”, do you think Elisha closed his eyes? His eyes were wide open. He was looking for the glory of God and he saw it. I bet he even blinked one eye at a time.

God promised in our day, the evening time, that there would be light, and in the last scripture that there would also be a gross darkness. And the darkness is not just in the world, it is in the churches and in message ranks too. With each day the darkness grows darker but the light also grows brighter. We are quickly approaching the day when the message would be preached to the lost.

We are told that in the very end the world would begin to receive the word but it would be too late. Once grace has been removed from the gentiles there will be no more reason for the devil to blind anyone to the doctrine of the message for there will be no grace to receive. And they will receive the doctrine free of grace and not know it because they will be completely blind in total spiritual darkness. People will go on hearing the message and think they are getting saved and the whole time they are eternally lost and they won’t even know it because they will be completely spiritually blind. They will not receive the Word, just the letter of the message. And they won’t receive it because their eyes are opened, but because they were never opened. Sound strange?

Today people are receiving Luther’s message by the millions, Wesley’s message by the millions, but they reject today’s message. Luther was indeed a man of God sent with a message. Luther was more than a preacher, he was the messenger to his age, yet Luther’s message will not save you today. Wesley was the messenger to his age, yet Wesley’s message will not save you today either. In Moses day they accepted Noah’s message and died in the wilderness. In Jesus’ day they accepted Moses’ message and died in their sins. People are indeed receiving a message today. They are receiving yesterday’s message! They are eating yesterday’s manna and yesterday’s manna is rotten with worms.

And one day soon they will start accepting the Message of the Hour that was brought by the vindicated Word Prophet, the Elijah ministry of Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7 manifested in the ministry of Brother William Branham. On that day, when you see that happen, you will know that it is too late and there is no more mercy on this earth for gentiles. The Seventh Church Age will be closed.

In order for the Message of This Hour to reach public acceptance, it has to have become the Message of Yesterday!

How will the foolish virgins know that they missed the rapture? They will see things happening that they will know come after the rapture. And how will they feel? How would we feel if we see things happen that we know are supposed to come after the rapture? If our eyes are open today we will not be caught off guard.

1 Thessalonians 5: 3 for when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye. Brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Don’t fall asleep! We are children of the day! We are all children of the day. We are not in darkness that the day should overtake us as a thief. The light is shining to them as well as to us. The light is shining to every person reading here. The light is shining to every person in your church, in your town. The light is shining to every person on this planet. The only difference between the Saved and the Lost is that the Saved have their eyes opened.

Each and every one of us was walking in total darkness at one point in our lives. Nobody is born saved, we are born-again saved! The physical birth creates a heathen, the spiritual birth creates a child of God.

Colossians 3: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

We walked and lived according to the world and the lusts of the flesh and of the world until the Lord God came and opened our eyes to the truth. If our eyes are not opened we will continue to walk in complete darkness. If our eyes are not opened then according to what we read in Revelation, we will not even know it. Indeed we may be very religious, even preaching the gospel, but in total, complete darkness.

So not only do we have to ask ourselves whether or not our eyes are opened, we have to ask ourselves if we are even able to discern whether our eyes are opened. Quite the thought. How can we know if our eyes are opened? Thankfully the Bible does give an answer.

John 10: 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; and they follow me.

Do we hear his voice? Only his sheep can hear his voice. He knows them. Does Jesus know you, do you know him? Not just to know about him, but have you met him? Have you had an experience with him? Is he just a story book character? Do you just believe he exists, or do you know he exists? When their eyes were opened they KNEW him.

When our eyes are opened, we follow him. Not a religion, not a dogma, not a church, not a philosophy, not a doctrine, not a denomination, not a group, not a pastor, but we will follow Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Do you love him? Do you talk with him? Not just your daily duty prayer. But throughout the day, to you talk with him? Does he talk with you? Do you think on his word? Are you singing songs in your heart? Are you living the Word of God? Do we know Jesus Christ? Are we living for him?

1 John 2: 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

We know Him IF we keep His commandments. If we Keep (Greek: Tereo, to keep, to guard as in prison) his commandments. If we keep his words, his commandments, imprisoned in our hearts, guarded, then we know that we know him. Do you see it? It isn’t going to church, believing the message, following rules, it is to keep the word of God imprisoned in your heart. Never let it go. It is a precious treasure that you guard. And in order to keep it in our hearts it first has to get into our hearts, and if our hearts are blinded, that will never happen. We will just get the letter in our heads. And the letter killeth but the spirit bringeth life.

Jesus said “my words are spirit and life”. When we keep his words in our hearts, we have his life in our hearts. His life is eternal life. So in order for His eternal life to enter us, His words must enter our hearts and stay there. The letter cannot enter your heart. Only the Word, Logos, can enter your heart. The letter becomes the Word when the Holy Spirit of God quickens it and makes it come to life through revelation. When we hear the word it is just a letter, but when the Holy Spirit reveals that letter to our hearts, opens our eyes to see it, it then becomes a Living Word, Spirit and life eternal. When we hear the Word it is a letter to us, but when we accept that letter, when we believe that letter, then the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to it.

If our eyes are not opened we will never receive revelation on the Word and it will remain a dead letter to us no matter how much time we spend in church, how many tapes we listen to, how many tracts we read, how much we sing and shout and praise God, without Jesus opening our eyes we will never see it for what it really is.

John 14: 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

God said “let my word be truth and all men be liars”. The spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth, the Word of God, to us. The world cannot receive it because it does not see him. The eyes of the world are close, blinded by the devil, blinded by sin and unbelief, blinded by lust, blinded by greed, blinded by fear, blinded by hatred, blinded by self righteousness and pride. They cannot see because their eyes are closed, and they will never have their eyes opened because they do not want to have their eyes opened. They are happy being blind.

The Word is contrary to our flesh and it cuts us deep. If we live after the flesh we shall die but if we crucify our flesh with the lusts thereof, then we shall live. We are given a choice, to accept the Word or to reject the Word. It is not a matter of whether or not we understand it, but whether or not we believe it. If we believe it, then God will give us the understanding.

Jesus said if you do not drink my blood and eat my flesh you cannot be my disciple. Did the 12 understand what he said? No. Did the 12 believe what he said? Yes! They did not have a clue what Jesus was talking about but they believed it, and because they believed it, he opened their eyes to understand it. They kept his word and the Holy Spirit quickened that Word to them and made it alive. To the world it was one of the worst things he could have said, but to the children of God, it is still one of the most wonderful words he ever spoke. It is the Lord’s supper where we eat broken bread and drink wine to remember his bleeding and suffering, and dieing for our sins. And if our eyes are not opened, we won’t understand that today either.

The apostles asked Jesus why he spoke in parables. Why was everything given in story form? Why is the gospel hidden in metaphors and similes? Would it not be better for him to come straight with it so everyone would understand plainly?

Mark 4: 10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 and he said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Can you see it? The ones that are without have no desire for the truth and so God will not open their eyes to see it. The truth, the mystery, is only for his Bride. All things are created so that God can reveal his attributes to his children. It is all about the Lord revealing himself, but he will not reveal himself to the devil. The serpent’s seed has no desire for truth, they are happy with religion. Cain was satisfied with an alter of fruits and vegetables, a man made religion, but Abel wanted more. Abel desired to know why, and God opened his eyes and revealed to him the reason for them being out of Eden, and thus Abel brought a more perfect sacrifice.

The religious world does not care about the truth for the truth is of no value to them. And because they don’t care about the truth, God will never reveal it to them. He only reveals the Word to his children. You can learn doctrine. Someone will come along and convince you into something, then someone smarter will come along the next day and convince you right out of it. That is where these dogmas come from, a lack of revelation. They do not have open eyes to the truth so they have to take guesses at what the Word really says, and the guesses will always lean towards their particular lusts. The devil is tugging away at them, giving his brand of “revelation”, intellectual reasoning, philosophy, psychology and logic so called.

Jesus said of them that “they are blind leaders of the blind and if the blind lead the blind they shall both fall in the ditch”. If you are blind you do not know where you are going. You need someone else to lead the way. But if the person who is leading you is as blind as you are, you will both wander in darkness with no hope. When our eyes are opened we will see, and when our eyes are opened, we shall follow Jesus. When our eyes are opened, and only when our eyes are opened, then we are led by Jesus, else we are led by men.

Ephesians 5: 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of Light:

Darkness and blindness are all we will have without Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, without revelation, without Jesus Christ we are in complete darkness, led by cunning men with vain words and craftiness, as it says in the 14th verse, lying in wait to deceive. They are stalking you, lying in wait, just like their daddy the serpent. They want to win you over to their side, to their church, to their camp. They are completely blind and want to lead you by the hand into the pit of hell with them! The Bible says to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but to reprove them.

Ephesians 5: 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Jesus is the light. He will make manifest the truth. He will open our eyes to show us the truth. He will reveal it to us by his Holy Spirit. He will set all things in order. He will give us understanding. His Spirit will discern for us. But we first have to want it.

The two on the road to Emmaus wanted it. All they could talk about was Jesus. When He met them on the road they were ranting about Him. Then he spoke to them and their hearts burned within. They had a desire and he met that desire by opening there eyes. And once their eyes were opened, they could see him, and they knew him.

Do we see Him? Do we know Him? Do we see the godhead? Do we know who Jesus Christ is? Have we met him or are our eyes still closed? Is Jesus Christ leading you by His Holy Spirit this morning or are you still being led by men? Jesus broke the bread and opened their eyes. He is breaking the bread of life this morning. Are you hungry for it? Then he will open your eyes too.

The blind man was crying out “thou son of David have mercy on me”. He wasn’t mumbling or whispering. He shouted so loud that not only did they hear him over the noise of the crowd, but the whole crowd fell silent and stopped to look at him. Cry out today. Cry out so loud that the whole church stops to look at you. Cry so loud that the whole world stops. Do you want your eyes opened, cry out. Shout! If that blind man cried out as loud as we do hear in the church he would be still blind to his death. He was convinced and concerned. He was convinced that Jesus could heal him, and concerned to get his attention.

Are we convinced? Are we convinced that Jesus can open our eyes? Are we concerned to get his attention? Cry out! All those who whisper? CRY OUT! In the name of Jesus shall be saved. Call on the Lord. He is closer to you than your own breath. He will never fail and never be late. He promised to meet every need. But if our eyes are not open, then we will not have revelation on that promise, and without revelation, we cannot believe. Cry out for open eyes! Cry out for revelation! Cry out for Jesus.

“God’s provided way”

St. John 13:21 Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His word.

I have a very important topic here. So for a text let us look at the idea of “Receiving”. And not just receiving in general but doing it by God’s provided way. I trust the Lord will open our eyes tonight, and take away the tiredness that we may receive the message on receiving.

Many things in the word are a chain reaction where one thing leads unto the next. That is the case here. And we also find with these things, that they are mutually exclusive. In other words if you have one, you automatically do not have the other. In mathematics they use a term IFF. I-F-F, which means if and only if. It is true for out topic. Jesus tells us that IFF we receive whom he sends then we will receive him, and IFF we receive him we will receive him that sent him.

A little background here. Sometimes we think of these things as milk because we heard them so long ago. Or sometimes the scriptures seem so familiar to us we forget that the riches of God are bottomless. No matter how many times we revisit a scripture, the Lord God will always have something new in it for us. Remember the manna, you had to eat the fresh stuff every day. So to with this heavenly manna, we have to turn to God every day for a fresh revelation on His word. This next scripture is a very familiar scripture to most, but let us re-examine it for a moment.

St. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness on the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own receiveth him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

So we see here that the author is speaking of Jesus Christ, the “only begotten of the Father”. It says that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD! Not a second person, not a third person, not another person, but God himself. And again in the 14th verse it tells us that the Word of God, which is God, was made flesh and dwelt amongst us as the only begotten of the father.

See not three gods in one, but one god in three. The Trinitarians have it backwards. One God, fulfilling three jobs. That is the Mystery of the Godhead we spoke of last time.

Who met Moses as the pillar of fire? God, the great I am. Who met Paul in the pillar of fire 1500 years later? Jesus. Remember Jesus said to the Pharisees, before Abraham was I AM? Who is the great I AM? God. Look at what Isaiah spoke of Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of peace.

There is nothing to interpret. Isaiah plainly tells us who the messiah was. It was God himself in flesh. That is hard to take when you have been told the opposite for years but it is Bible and it is the absolute truth. Thus saith the lord “ His name shall be called ‘the mighty god, the everlasting father’”. No way around it. Either the Bible is right or it isn’t. As for me and my house, we will stick with the Bible. Amen?

And we need that bit of background for our scripture. Jesus said in order to receive God, you would first have to receive him, and in order to receive him, you would have to receive the person whom he sent. This background ties the first two neatly together.

Remember we just read that Jesus Christ is the word of God made flesh. So if we receive Jesus Christ we are receiving the word of God, and if we are receiving the word of God we then must be receiving Jesus Christ for the two are one and the same.

And in order to receive God, we must first receive his word, which is Jesus Christ, which is God. So God is in his word, for he is his word. Every word in this Bible is God. If we reject a word from this Bible, then we are rejecting Jesus Christ, and in so doing we are rejecting God, for the word, Jesus Christ and God are one and the same.

We cannot have one without the other! Let me repeat that. We cannot have one without the other! We can only receive of the Lord through God’s provided way.

If we do not have Jesus Christ then we do not have God the Father. If we do not have this blessed word then we do not have Jesus Christ. If we reject, disbelieve, disobey this word of God then we are rejecting Jesus Christ and Rejecting God. This milk has a few lumps in it.

Jesus said we do not live by bread alone but by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of the father. Every single word! The whole Bible! If we are to live, then we must receive the whole Bible. To reject one word of it is to reject all of it. Lets have a look.

James 2: 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Guilty of all? That is what the Bible says. To reject one word from that holy book is to completely reject Jesus Christ, and to completely reject the Holy Spirit of God that dwelled in him. We have to believe the whole word, and in order to believe the whole word of God, our flesh must be mortified. Flesh and blood cannot receive the word of God, it comes by the Holy Spirit of God only.

We must have the word and only the word of God. We cannot add to it, we cannot take from it, we cannot interpret it. That is a surprise to many for that is what the churches have been doing for years.

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

There is no private interpretation allowed for any scriptures. Take the scripture, the Bible, exactly as it is written. Do not add, do not take away and do not change it. There is a grave danger for anyone who does.

Galatians 1: 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Chris. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have receive, let him be accursed.

Do you see the responsibility that comes with this pulpit? Anyone who wants to be a preacher really does not know what it means to be a preacher. Those of us who do it, do so because it burns inside of us.

Do you see now why without the whole, unadulterated, unchanged, unperverted, uninterpreted word of God we simply cannot receive the Lord God? Jesus Christ is the living word of God and any change to this gospel makes it not the word of God anymore. Anyone and everyone who changes this gospel is accursed. That’s not my word, that is Bible.

So how can we be Christians, how can we call ourselves children of God, without the Lord God and his word? Impossible. Do you see how silly it is now? How can a church, a minister, a man preach a dogma which is contrary to the written word of God and call itself a Christian church when the Apostle Paul says that organization is accursed for doing it? How can a church institute rules and regulations and behaviours that are contrary to the Word of God and call themselves Christians? It is absurd, yet it is done all the time and everywhere.

They have changed baptism. They have introduced trinity. They have woman preachers now. Homosexuals in the pulpits now. Smokers, thieves, adulterers, liars. And the list goes on and on and on. And it is all completely contrary to the Bible yet they not only behave this way, they preach this behavior as being righteous. They act totally contrary to the word of God, they believe dogmas and creeds that are completely contrary to the word of God and they teach those things contrary to the word of God. They have rejected God’s provided way. So is God with them? Can the Lord bless this behaviour without being a hypocrite?

Revelation 3: 20 Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me.

Where is Jesus Christ, the word of God, today? He is outside of the church! He is knocking and trying to get back in! But he is not trying to get back into organizations and denominations. He has been pushed out. They have pushed out the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in favour of creeds, and dogmas, and philosophy, and science so called, and Apostle’s creeds, and Nicene councils etc. They have no room for the Bible anymore. They have no room for Jesus in their lives or their organizations.

And as we read, without the Word, Jesus Christ, we cannot have God the Father. No Bible equals NO GOD! If we do not come by God’s Provided Way, then we cannot come to him at all.

So then how can we get the true word of God? How can we receive Jesus Christ? We must receive the one whom he sent.

Romans 10: 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher: 15 And who shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

“Sent”. Preachers must be sent. God will send men as they are needed. He will send the man of his own choice at exactly the right time. And if you read the Bible you will find that he never sends the eloquent speakers, he never sends the highly educated, he never sends the ones men would send. In every age he sends a messenger with a message, and that message will always be the word of God. If it is not “thus saith the Lord” line upon line, precept upon precept, word upon word with this Bible, have nothing to do with it. If it is, then receive it. God has five different ministries which he exercises from the pulpit.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, Apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

There are exactly five ministries that he sends. He picks men of his own choosing, anoints them with his holy spirit, and send them out as preachers. And he always picks that which is least to bring to naught that which is. The ones that Jesus sends will preach only this blessed word of God for the hour. They will not add, they will not take away, they will not interpret. They will be on the word, line by line, precept by precept, word by word for the Holy Ghost will tell them what to say. That is God’s Provided Way.

When a man is preaching under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he is God’s mouthpiece. He is no longer speaking his own words, he is speaking the word of God. When we reject that speaker we will reject his words too, and if he is sent by Jesus Christ, the words he is speaking are the word of God, which is Jesus Christ. Is that clear? To reject the man that the Lord God sends to bring you his word, is to flatly reject the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we reject the God sent preacher, we will reject the word of God, which is Jesus Christ and in so doing reject God. Pretty simple, yet very hard for some to understand.

1 Corinthians 1: 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 for after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom know not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

God chose to use preaching to save us. He is totally preeminent. He is in charge and his decisions are binding on all. He could have chose any number of ways to save us. He could have sent angels to each of us. He could have appeared in the pillar of fire to every Christian. He could have sent our dead relatives back to us. He could have chosen any number of ways but he chose preaching. Souls are saved by preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Jesus sends a man to preach, and you receive his preaching, you are receiving the word of God which is Jesus Christ and thereby you receive God. Jesus said “my words are spirit and life.” And how does a God sent preacher preach the word of God? Exactly according to the Bible.

God doesn’t pick the wise, he doesn’t pick, the educated, the doesn’t want people with university degrees in theology, doctor’s of divinity, the wise and the disputer of the world. God wants a simple man who will do what he is told. Just look at the scriptures at who God picked. Noah. Elisha. John the Baptist. Peter. Overwhelmingly God chose those with little or no education of the world and the few educated men he picked, he first had to beat it out of them. Moses took 40 years to get the wisdom of Egypt out of him. Paul had to be blinded. And look what Paul said of his Bible school seminary education.

Philippians 3: 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them by dung, that I may win Christ.

Dung! You know what that means. That is what he counted his Bible school education. His Masters of Divinity degree was “dung”. His PhD in Religion was “dung”. He got so educated that he was persecuting the very God whom he thought he was worshipping. He knew the letter of the scriptures by heart but did not know the spirit of them. He was never preached to by a God sent preacher! He never heard the revealed word of God for the hour, and as such was drawn away by a denomination and was persecuting the true church of Jesus Christ. He was the most zealous man in Israel for God and all the while an enemy to God because of the doctrines that were preached to him.

To receive God we must receive Jesus Christ which is the word of God. To receive the word of God, we must receive the man whom Jesus sent to preach the word of God. When the Lord sent Noah with a message, all who rejected Noah and his message were lost forever. When the Lord sent Moses, all who rejected Moses and his message were lost forever. The same goes for Amos, Ezekiel, Luther, Wesley, Martin, Branham, Paul, Peter, John etc etc etc. That is God’s Provided Way for us. We must receive Jesus Christ and we must receive those whom he has sent. That is God’s provided way for us, for all of us, there are no exceptions.

Do you want to know what character in a man to look for in a God sent preacher? Look in the Bible. Who he picked then, he will pick now. Look at Peter. Look at John the Baptist. Look at Elijah. Look at Micah. Look at Amos. Look at Noah. Look at Ezekiel. What common threads do you see with those men? You will see that in the God sent preachers today.

What is being preached to you? Is it the word of God? Do you check it with your Bible? Who is preaching? Did God send him? Are you rejecting him? Are you rejecting his message? Are you receiving him? It is as dangerous to receive a man that the Lord did not send, as it is to reject a man that the Lord did send. Remember, Eve received the preaching of the serpent.

If a God sent man is preaching to us and we reject his message then we are rejecting Jesus Christ. If a man is preaching on his own and we receive his message, which is contrary to the Bible, then we are rejecting Christ as well. It is truly a tightrope we must walk. That is why the Bible says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. That is why the Bible says that in our day the false prophets will be so close to the true as to deceive the very elect if it were possible. But it is not possible. The elect will check the word of the preacher with the word of God.

What did you hear this morning? What did you hear this evening? Did you check it with the word? Was it the word of God? If so accept it and receive eternal life.

Did what you heard appeal to your flesh or your soul? Did it cut you? Did it correct you?

The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. The only way to receive Jesus Christ is to receive the revealed word of God. We cannot have one without the other. God’s word runs in continuity, to break this would break the entire word of God and make God a liar. The Holy Spirit, which is God, cannot say or do or move anyone to say or do anything that is contrary to the word of God. If it is not perfectly aligned with this Bible, it is not of God. Period. It doesn’t matter how good is sounds, how good it looks, how good it feels, how politically correct it is, how psychologically sound it seems, how many degrees the person saying it has, if it is not exactly Bible, it is not of God. Remember that.

There are two ways, one is hard and narrow, and that is the way to life and that is the word of God. The other is easy, and wide, and leads to damnation and that is the word of man. The word of man will appeal to the flesh, it will appeal to your emotions. It will be wise, intelligent and logical. But it will kill you.

God is in his word and he has sent men to preach that word to lead us to him. When we receive the revealed word of God for the hour, we receive Jesus Christ and thereby we receive God himself into us. Those words will be hard to hear. They will convict our flesh. They will break our hearts to repentance. They will correct us. Jesus Christ is standing at the door and knocking right now. He is not at the door of your church, he is at the door of your heart. Will you receive him?

Receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Receive him by his word and his spirit. Receive him today. Jesus said “I am the truth, the life, and the way”. He is God’s provided way. The revealed word of God for the hour, is God’s provided way, for it is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.